Polychelatogens (Spivakov, B. Y., et al., Nature 1985, 315, 313-315; Geckeler, K. E., et al., Angew. Makromol. Chem. 1987, 155, 151-161; and Tülü, M., et al., Appl. Polym. Sci. 2008, 109, 2808-2814) and their heterogeneous (i.e. water-insoluble) alternatives (Alexandratos, S. D., et al., New. J. Chem. 2015, 39, 5366-5373; Alexandratos, S. D., et al., Macromolecules 2001, 34, 206-210; Bell, C. A., et al., Adv. Mater. 2006, 18, 582-586; Rivas, B. L., et al., Inorg. Chem. Commun. 2007, 10, 151-154; Ramirez, E., et al., J. Hazard. Mater. 2011, 192, 432-439; and Tomida, T., et al., Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2001, 40, 3557-3562) form a broad set of polymer-based reagents that are designed to sequester heavy metal contaminants in water resources that pose a risk to human health (Järup, L. Br. Med. Bull. 2003, 68, 167-182). In light of ongoing efforts to improve water quality in parts of the world where potable water is scarce (World Health Organization. Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality, 4th ed.; Gutenberg, Malta, 2011), there is a need for novel metal sequestration polymers (Elimelech, M., et al., A. Science 2011, 712-717; Shannon, M. A., et al., Nature 2008, 452, 301-310; and Hartono, M. R., et al., Water Air Soil Pollut. 2015, 226, 1-11) that are chemically flexible for performance optimization in both the solid and/or solution state.